Chapter 462: The Shaman
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gegengol, ruled by a tribe known as the Hirasu tribe, had a tribal chief who claimed blood relationship with the Family of Gold and shared common ancestry with the Great Khan Gu Erduo of the Golden Tent. The chieftain held the title of the “Grand Sun King” because of this.
At present, the Grand Sun King has no lack of progenies, amongst them, Agula was barely noticeable amidst the myriads of contests for the King’s regard. His mother was a female slave who had been forced into coition during one of the King’s many drunken binges.
Owing to his comparatively humble beginnings, Agula endured the dishonor of not being fit for the royal succession and was not privileged of his share of the tribes’ division amongst the heirs of the King. For this very reason, he enjoyed amicable relations to most of his tribesmen. His kinship to the Family of Gold had gained him respectable standing amongst the ordinary folk of the wild plains. Thus his comfortable life and decent prestige.
“Agula was hardly a gifted student in the arts of martial combat, but his son, called Aersilen was an outstanding talent. Agula had high expectations for his son’s prospects, retaining faith and optimism that his son’s future prominence might bring honor to his name. Agula expended extensive investments to equip his son with the most exceptional education in martial disciplines. At the ripe age of twenty, Aersilen had unsealed his Seventh Aperture and had freshly contrived his Inner World. Alas by cruel fate he was preyed upon by the skulking Wolf King. His throat torn asunder, and his life was forfeit in the hands of the Wolf King in a tent at Gegengol.”
One by one through different tents, Wuen led Meng Qi through the folds of the yurts as he continued, “Thus, in a dilemma Agula found himself to be. His lacking political standing and his kinsmen’s grudge towards Aersilen’s glimmering talent have placed him in a most delicate position. The great warriors of the Hirasu tribe had allegedly given their word to put an end to the savagery of the Wolf King. Sadly, those are but hollow words. They had not the true intent to truly seek out the Wolf King and eliminate him. Thus, driven by discontentment and disgust, he was compelled to join the Wolf-Slaying League.”
Sometimes, the old Wuen would help Agula sell some shady goods and fur from the south, and he had learned of Agula’s experience by accident.
“Wolf King was particular about the target for murder…” said Meng Qi who noticed this point.
Wolf King had never killed the lineal shaman of Changsheng Denomination, Gold Tent’s descendants and even people related to Great Master. But as for Aersilen, he lived with the envy of others, although the elder members of their family neglected his father. For this reason, he was killed by Wolf King even if there was a peerless master at the Hirasu tribe.
Wuen laughed and said, “The Wolf King would have reduced the food for livestock if he didn’t consider this. He could not hide for a long time if he were targeted by the powerful shaman or Gold Tent master even if he got the mystique and was very cautious.”
“Anyway, Wolf King was indeed well-informed since he could keep away from the people he couldn’t offend during his random murders…” Meng Qi thought.
Wuen stopped near several tents and went up to talk with the warrior who guarded the tents and gave him a silver cake.
While Wuen was talking with the warrior, Meng Qi looked that place over, pretending to look around carelessly. These tents were away from others in a certain distance, with warriors around to guard them. There were invisible columns in the dark place. There also seemed to be the secret guarders hiding at the interstice on the top of the tents.
The horses, flocks, and herds were orderly arranged, without any disorder at all. The footmen and slaves passing by were also in solemn order.
“Agula could not be belittled, and he was also a talented person…” Meng Qi didn’t look down on Agula due to his inferior Kung Fu body potentials. Instead, he found from the details that Agula had a great ability concerning leadership.
After a short while, the guard came out and let Wuen and Meng Qi enter the tent.
The condition inside the tent naturally rose in Meng Qi’s mind after the tent’s curtain opened. There must be people standing or hiding at the place where there were guards.
There was a thick blanket covered on the ground, which made people feel very comfortable as one stood on it. Agula didn’t sit cross-legged as the ordinary grassland people. Instead, he placed some red tables and stools with the North Zhou Dynasty style inside the tent. There were some copper furnaces placed on the desks and each corner of the tent. They were burnt red by the fire, warming the tent in the winter.
Meng Qi would feel that he came back to the North Zhou Dynasty had it not been for the cover cloth that surrounded the tent. It turned out that the grassland nobilities loved the goods from the south.
“Wuen, I have told you not to visit me if there was nothing important,” Agula said in a low voice as if he made sounds from his abdomen.
He looked like an overweight ordinary grassland resident in middle age, but the sparkling jade ring on his hand and his steady eyes implied his real identity.
Except for other guards, there was a tall and burly guard without much hair. He stood behind Agula. His bulging muscle was full of strength, and the exposed skin covered with many green shaman patterns which might be tattoos or something magic.
While he glanced at the guards around, Wuen said with a smile, “Your Excellency, I have something personal and would you take the trouble to help me? And would you please…”
Agula pulled a long face and waved his hand to beckon the guards at the visible and invisible places to leave the tent. Only the strong man behind him stayed behind and perhaps the man hiding on the top of the tent remained there.
“You can tell me your secret now.” Agula said in a low voice.
Wuen pointed at Meng Qi and flatly spoke, “He had a grudge against Wolf King and wanted to join the Wolf-slaying League.”
“How dare those damn humble slaves to let the secret leak out?” Agula burst into anger and picked up the whip on the table as if he was going to lash someone.
Agula, who looked amiable and calm, was somewhat intimidating while he got angry.
But Wuen, as one of his partners, wasn’t frightened by his anger and took a step back with a smile. “Zhe Bie is skilled at sword technique and also has helped me save my goods. If he joins the Wolf-slaying League, he must devote himself to kill Wolf King. It’s good for you, right?”
Meng Qi could not think of other good names to use on the grassland, so he called himself “Zhe Bie.” After Wuen introduced him, he coldly looked at Agula, putting his right hand on the sword handle and seeming to be getting ready for killing people within five steps.
“Zhe Bie…” Agula squinted.
The tall and strong man behind him snorted and said, ” He is skilled at sword technique? Hum. There were many people skilled at saber play killed by Wolf King.”
Agula waved his hand to beckon him to shut up, and his voice seemed to be rolling inside his throat.
“Why do you conceive a hatred for Wolf King? Where are you from?”
“Also, there are strict rules of our Wolf-slaying League. You must not be allowed to join in if you don’t have the corresponding strength or ability. You could only provide us with information in this case.”
He was vigilant against “Zhe Bie” who suddenly appeared and also did not show interest in his strength!
“I’m a wandering swordsman without any relatives or friends killed by Wolf King…” Meng Qi deliberately paused for a little while.
“Well, do you have any virulent hatred of him?” Agula got a little surprised.
Meng Qi tried to reply in a few words, avoiding exposing the flaw of his grassland language. “I was once attacked by him.”
“What?” Agula and the man behind him spoke at the same time with amazement.
Even Wuen was very astounded since he heard it for the first time. “This Green-ribbon Arrester had managed to escape from the sneak-attack by Wolf King. It is no wonder that he dares to come here to hunt down Wolf King!”
There were less ten people who could survive from Wolf King’s sneak-attack within half step. Most of them had helpers nearby, so they could get the chance to escape away while Wolf King failed to hit them.
The strong man said rudely, “In Eternal Sky’s name, the liar must die by Wolf King! How dare you tell a lie just because Wolf King isn’t here?”
He naturally doubted the wandering swordsman, who wasn’t strong and powerful enough, could escape from the Wolf King’s attack. When coming to boast, he could also claim that he had attacked Wolf King and hurt him badly. After all, it was impossible for Wolf King to come clean.
Agula frowned and had the same opinion with the strong man in his mind. He said to Wuen, “Zhe Bie is of dubious background, and his hatred of Wolf King isn’t verifiable. I’m afraid that others would not allow him to join the league even if I recommend him.”
He politely turned him down.
Meng Qi took a step forward and asked calmly, “Who of you has seen Wolf King use his movement?”
Others became silent at this moment. Agula said after a short while of silence, “Ba Tu was inside the tent when the murder of Aersilen took place.”
Ba Tu, the tall and robust man, looked a little pale while he recalled the past events. It seemed that he often had nightmares because of that. In a weak voice which was not dominant anymore, he said, “I didn’t see him personally, but I could feel that he was like an evil ghost and a wild wolf which was extremely powerful…In Eternal Sky’s name…”
“You can have a try.” Meng Qi spoke simply with few words and looked incredibly cool.
With this, the whole tent became dark suddenly, and Ba Tu found the wandering swordsman in front of him disappeared.
But soon the fine hairs at his nape stood up as if there was an invisible knife attached there.
He then abruptly stepped forward and turned back, raising his right arm with the bulging muscle. He then hit in the air with a dull thud and produced a gust of fierce wind.
But he could just hit in the air.
While the fresh wind blew, he felt that the sharp saber Qi was still hanging at his nape.
This time, Ba Tu chose to lunge forward, with his feet off the ground. He then vigorously snapped his whip. But he had also just kicked in the air as if there was no one at his back, only the invisible evil ghost!
Ba Tu tried over and over but still could not get rid of being tangled by the evil ghost. He also failed to free himself from the nightmare.
The sweat started forth upon his forehead as the movements of his fist became messier. The green shaman pattern on his skin made him full of energy, but it was of no use since he could not find the enemy.
Suddenly, he saw Agula’s shocked face and also saw his own shadow reflecting in Agula’s pupils, but didn’t see anyone behind him!
“Yes, it is the movement of Wolf King!” Ba Tu finally spoke with these words.
However, what Agula had seen was different. “Zhe Bie” just slowly took a walk behind Ba Tu all the time. He followed Ba Tu to walk forward and turn back, but he stood behind Ba Tu from beginning to end. While Ba Tu kicked backward, he just took a step towards one side casually. When Ba Tu looked at Agula’s pupils, he aligned himself with Ba Tu and completely hid by means of Ba Tu’s tall and robust figure.
Meng Qi seemed to play hide-and-seek with a child in the whole process, Covered with sweat, Ba Tu, who was extremely scared, made the process so weird to astonish others present.
Agula took a breath and said to Meng Qi, “Zhe Bie, I believe you have fought with Wolf King.”
He thought that it was impossible to make Ba Tu mistake Zhe Bie for Wolf King if he didn’t fight with Wolf King. Agula also changed the way to call Meng Qi as he knew Meng Qi was a master reaching such a high level.
“Can I get the chance to join Wolf-slaying League?” Meng Qi briefly asked.
“The other members will believe your hatred for Wolf King, but they may not trust you because of your unidentified background unless you are willing to swear witnessed by the shaman and promise that you will not reveal the internal matters of the Wolf-slaying League and will not hurt other members.” Agula told him the demanding requirement.
Meng Qi nodded gently and said, “Fine.”
“How dare he agree on that requirement?” Wuen was a little confused because he realized that it was not easy to take the vow witnessed by the shaman!
Agula smiled and sent a guard to invite a familiar, ordinary shaman as if he didn’t fear that the shaman would know Wolf-slaying League.
The shaman wore a navy blue robe with many floral patterns on it. He was a skinny man with a pair of sharp eyes.
As all of the people believed in Eternal Sky and numerous totems, the shamans were the spokesmen of the God. Even every tribe leader had to respect them except for the descendants of the Gold Family.
The shaman moved his lips with a totem of the Hirasu tribe in his hand. After a while of mutter, he asked Meng Qi to vow, his eyes turning a deep green.
Luckily, Agula had told him the vow content before. Otherwise, Meng Qi didn’t know how to read it with the grassland language. As he slowly finished reading the vow, he saw that there was a deep green light giving off from the shaman’s eyes. He also felt that his body seemed to be at a visionary status, sensing that somehow there was a karma line extending towards him. One end of the line was the totem in the shaman’s hand.
He used the secret karma art getting for Sikong Tu from the beginning just in case he would be deceived by them!